People in Pain Network

Chronic Pain in the news

Juvenile chronic pain is strongly linked to increased anxiety and a greatly reduced ability to participate in normal childhood activities as basic as going to school and sleeping. These difficulties lead to a lower quality of life and constant stress on the child and their whole family.

Researchers have concluded that opioids prolong chronic pain,(3) and Harvard Medical School cautions that “long-term use of opioids comes with the risk of dependence, addiction, constipation, falls, confusion, slowed reaction time, slowed breathing and death.”

I was discouraged to read your article on doctor shopping and opioids. The College of Physicians and Surgeons of B.C. has provided no evidence of the degree of this problem. Out of the province’s 12,000 physicians, only 150-200 must attend a safe prescribing course. The issue of over-prescribing is being overstated and the larger issue of unmanaged pain obscured.

Incidentally, chronic pain was the number one reason why the majority of 118,000 Arizona residents acquired medical marijuana cards, according to a December 2016 report from the Arizona Department of Health Services.